the-f-word.org

Anyone have thoughts on it?

I personally liked it. I give big cudo's to Pixar for not totally playing the "fat and lazy" card. Instead they decided to add a little science with the idea that psending too much time in space causes bone loss. Then multiply that by 700 years.

I was disheartend that the point was totally lost on my husband. When my six year old asked a question about the people his response was "they all became couch potatoes" and I had to chime in.

But I did like the movie. It really was a good story, the humans were basically big kids, which I thought was understandable being pampered by robots from birth. But even with that "handycap" when the time came they stepped up to the plate without hesitation.

I will be buying this one when it comes out on DVD.

I wrote two entries on this back in fall based upon what early reviewers of the then unfinished film were saying. Their comments indicated that fat people were shown in a really negative and discriminatory light, but from what I hear now, Pixar has considerably toned down its portrayal of fat people in the film. I was going to wait for it to come out on video just because I don't want to pay $10 to see it in the theatre, but I've since gotten two media inquiries on it in the past few days from a couple big British newspapers. The hubby and I may go out and see it this weekend.

The writer and director, Andrew Staughton, was on NPR's Fresh Air yesterday and he said he thought of this concept in 1994 (before the headlines screaming the health hazards of obesity) and it changed very little since then. One reviewer described it as a "90 minute lecture" on overconsumption, but this theme resonates with me. The hubby and I believe in and try to practice sustainable living, so I'm glad to see this addressed.

Ugh, Paul just let me know my site has been linked on The Onion in relation to the film. Most people who make their way from other sites conveniently forget that I wrote my post in the fall, and that the film has since undergone revision. My comments continue to be taken out of context.

There is a great article on Slate today about Wall-E.

http://www.slate.com/id/2195126/

That WAS a great article. The only thing that I didn't agree with was the part about fat people not living as long as thin people.
c

My husband sent me the link to the Slate story, Toni. It is a great read.

I haven't seen it either. I remembered seeing a trailer for it one time. It was pretty vague with more shiney blinkies than actual plot, so you couldn't tell what the story was about. But I definitely remember wanting to see it!

Now, I'm not sure if I should. I won't be seeing it at the theater, either way.

I definitely won't let my 4 year old watch it. I hate for him to begin making the fat is evil connection so young. Especially considering that taking his parents into account, he's bound to grow up to be a big ol' boy! I don't think he is old enough to understand the incorrectness of it all.

I'm not entirely convinced that we should do this to ourselves as adults, either. I mean, we can watch a movie and understand that an unfortunate stereotype is being used for laughs... but what we *see* is still getting drilled into our brains.

Even those of us who KNOW that models in magazines are often airbrushed and don't represent what real women look like, and certainly what women SHOULD look like... still... just seeing those images all the time distorts how we think and act and treat ourselves, even though we know it shouldn't.

So, I am trying to be more discriminating in what kind of media I subject myself to.

Cassandra

I watched it a few weeks ago with my family (children aged 5, 3 and 1) and we all enjoyed it. Wall-E is cute, and the animation is stunning. The fat humans were portrayed in a very matter-of-fact way, although there was a scene with everyone falling out of their chairs and flopping around that I didn't like. It was very much a 'beached whale' stereotype.

The captain was a wonderful character; he fought against hundreds of years of wrong thinking, and didn't become cynical as a result.

All in all, I think it's a positive movie, but I doubt people will think beyond fat people = lazy, which is a shame.

Take a look at the local obituaries and statistics from the CDC and you might want to re-think that. There are lots of doomsayers and self proclaimed experts but looking around seeing who is left alive is hard to ignore. There is also the notion of quality of life and how some think having joint pain or mountains of pills are small prices to pay to continue their health habits. No judgments here. There is a price to pay for everything no matter if that means putting in the effort to be healthy or enjoying the buffets. It would be a utopia if both fit people and fat people would leave each other alone and move on with their own lives.

Actually, government researchers just announced this week that the national life expectancy is the highest it's been in a decade.